US Air Force Reporting Pilot Shortage

An anonymous reader writes "Times sure have changed: it is no longer cool to be a fighter pilot. The Pentagon expects to be short some 200 fighter pilots this year, and is projecting that shortfall will increase to 700 pilots by 2021. Various factors seem to be involved: better paying jobs in the commercial sector with more stability, the stress of repeated overseas deployments, and the threat that ultimately the job they trained to do — fly planes — is being superseded by remotely-controlled drones. With demand for commercial aviators heating up as thousands of pilots are expected to reach mandatory retirement age (65) in the next five years, the Air Force is caught in a quandary. Where are they going to get the pilots to fly their shiny new F-35s?"

Comments

Re:PIlots don't make much

[rossdee]

"This is true. It doesn't take long to realize that decent pay only exists for pilots who work for a large carrier"

you must be thinking of the Navy and Marines - the airforce doesn't have any carriers .